The present invention relates to a fishing reel having an oscillating mechanism which moves a spool shaft forwards and backwards to wind a fish line uniformly around the spool without being one-sided.
An oscillating mechanism of this type has a sliding member which is fixed to a rear end of the spool shaft, and is made movable forwards and backwards along the traverse cam shaft, as disclosed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-131029 or Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3039903. With regard to this mechanism, the rotation movement of the handle is converted into a linear motion so as to move the spool forwards and backwards along with the spool shaft, and thus the fish line can be wound around the spool evenly without being one-sided.
In the sliding member 12, an engagement pin which is engageable with the traverse cam shaft is contained to be supported. The engagement pin is constituted by a proximal portion contained in the sliding member and an engagement section which engages with the traverse cam shaft. The outer diameter of the proximal portion is generally made approximately equal to the width of the engagement section; however in the case where the proximal portion is made to include a bearing (collar), the outer diameter of the proximal portion becomes larger than the width of the engagement section.
In such an oscillating mechanism, the engagement pin which engages with the traverse cam shaft is supported by a support hole of the slider member while it is held by a stopper plate to hold it from being pulled out. With this structure, a conventional oscillating mechanism requires such a stopper slate in addition to the slider member and engagement pin, and therefore the number of parts is increased. Further, with this structure, it becomes necessary to carry out a separate assembly process for holding the engagement pin from being pulled out, which not only decreases the assemble but also increases the production cost.
In the meantime, in order to improve the rotatability of the traverse cam shaft and the slidability of the engagement pin, for the purpose of improving the operability of the oscillating mechanism, it is possible to apply a technique in which, for example, the outer diameter of the traverse cam shaft is increased, and the width of the engagement section of the engagement pin is accordingly increased, so as to increase the engagement amount between the engagement pin and traverse cam shaft. However, in the above-described conventional oscillating mechanism, the outer diameter of the proximal portion of the engagement pin is made substantially equal to or larger than the width of the engagement section, in terms of ratio, and therefore the following problem is likely to occur if the above-described technique is applied.
More specifically, when the width of the engagement section is increased in accordance with the outer diameter of the traverse cam shaft, the outer diameter of the proximal portion is increased accordingly. Therefore, the slider member which contains the proximal portion must inevitably be increased in its entire size in order to maintain the mechanical strength and durability. Thus, if the size of the entire slider member is increased, the size of the entire oscillating mechanism is increased, and as a result, the reel as a whole is enlarged in size.